He has run for commission seven times since 2005, spent a total of about $25,000 in the process, but has never won. In March, he once more hopes Miramar voters will pick him for Seat 1.

"Yes, it's me again," he told a crowd of approximately 200 voters who turned out for a candidate forum Thursday.

In a two-way race in 2013, Casas pulled out all the stops. He rented Fairway Park for $400, spent $1,000 on mailers to advertise the event, and cooked enough food to feed a small army. But only 20 people showed up, and they were more interested in the food than politics, he says. Casas lost to Winston Barnes, 2,063 to 1,125 votes.

Like Susan Lucci, the daytime soap opera star who was nominated 19 times before winning an Emmy, Casas, a 66-year-old real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, believes his day will come.

He recently joked that his wife threatened to go after him with a baseball bat if he runs after this election. Aymet Casas says campaiging has taken its toll on her family.

"The money is a big thing, but the hours … our son was 8 when we started and I had to abandon him a lot of hours because every Saturday and Sunday we were out in the street campaigning, and then you lose," she said. "So that was very frustrating; we've cried, our son has cried."

Casas moved to Miramar 15 years ago and first ran in 2005, finishing third in a four-way race. He ran again five months later in a special election, finishing fifth in a 12-person race. Then in March 2007, he tied for second in a four-way race. Eight months later, in another special election, he finished sixth in a 12-way race. In March 2009, he had his closest finish, losing by 639 votes in a two-way race. In November 2010, he ran in a special election and finished third in a six-person race. In March 2013, he finished second in a two-way race, spending $6,000.

On March 10, Casas will try to be elected to the seat vacated in November by Alexandra Davis when she ran for the Broward County Commission. He's raised $1,000 so far.

He was going to sit this race out but decided to run after noticing that only one candidate had qualified as of Jan. 7.

"I wanted to offer the citizens of Miramar a choice," he said.

A flurry of late sign-ups swelled the field and now Casas is in a six-person race.

"Especially those that run so many times," he said. "They [voters] see the loss as, well, a loss."

Watson said likely campaign donors want to get some "bang for their buck," rather than back losers.

"There are some folks who, when bitten by the election bug, can't seem to shake it. There are others who are ideologically motivated and are relentless and indefatigable campaigners. There are, however, other ways to impact the process such as letters to the editor, rallies, blogging…"

Carlos Marcos said he has worked on Casas' last three campaigns. "It has been tough getting out the vote, which is why we'd like to see the city election at the same time as the state and national elections so that there will be a larger turnout," Marcos said. "Alex is a very emotional and passionate guy and he has the background and the business saavy that makes him a perfect candidate."

Casas has an engineering degree and has served on the city's economic development board but he admits that he's learned some tough lessons on the campaign trail.

"I'm trying to do things a little smarter," he said laughingly after recounting the park experience. "I've spent thousands buying wine and food, money that I've funded myself, and it hasn't worked the way I wanted it to."